Dr.Boletus
Well-known member
It was all going fine at first. I got up, got a 6am train, got to Thetford, cycled off deep into the forest.
Upon arrival, a slight jolt to my bike completely sheared off the gear controls at the rear. No goshawks at my secret site for today, it seemed.
Everything was shrouded in fog, but which was now starting to dissipate. The river looked beautiful in the morning sun.
With no other choice, I proceeded down the river, hoping for the best.
I didn't get very far when I heard a woodpecker. A sudden, sharp burst from the trees across the river. Great spotted woodpecker, for sure and without a doubt, announcing its presence.
Another woodpecker responded. And this one sounded completely different.
I suddenly realised that I just heard a lesser spotted woodpecker. But it was far away, on the other side of the river.
I moved on at that moment, and began encountering people along the river.
Stopping every once in a while to take photos of the Mandarin ducks. I've seen them before, but not when they were doing this:
As I proceeded down the river, I heard it again. An unmistakeable drumming of a lesser spotted woodpecker. I could even see where it was coming from, but when I approached, there was no sign of it, the bird had gone quiet. It was somewhere here, though.
A woodpecker landed in the tree then- it was a great spotted woodpecker. I took a few photos of it just as it was drumming:
The sound was completely different to the other one I heard.
After it flew off, I went back down along the river, turned back, and that is when I heard it for real.
A lesser spotted woodpecker was drumming. Very, very close to where I was standing.
But I was never able to find it.
Maybe it flew off spontaneously, or just stopped drumming. Maybe it was even in another tree, the dense thicket across the river.
But I did not see it. Did not hear it again.
So I went back down along the river. An obliging long-tailed tit attended me.
Someone was walking in front of me- an old man and a dog.
I tensed when I saw it. I really don't like dogs, ever since one caused me to crash and break a rib in 2008 on my bike.
So I went more slowly.
Almost at Brandon along the river, the old man stopped, and I stopped with him. The dog began staring at me, and I stopped and began searching up my emails to distract myself. Just one of the things my autistic brain does when it gets scared.
When the old man finally moved, he approached me, and angrily berated me for blocking his path. I was not blocking anything- there was enough space to walk right past me. And as he moved, he knocked over my bag which was standing at my feet.
A lanyard displaying my disability was clearly visible. But he did it anyway.
Upon arrival, a slight jolt to my bike completely sheared off the gear controls at the rear. No goshawks at my secret site for today, it seemed.
Everything was shrouded in fog, but which was now starting to dissipate. The river looked beautiful in the morning sun.
With no other choice, I proceeded down the river, hoping for the best.
I didn't get very far when I heard a woodpecker. A sudden, sharp burst from the trees across the river. Great spotted woodpecker, for sure and without a doubt, announcing its presence.
Another woodpecker responded. And this one sounded completely different.
I suddenly realised that I just heard a lesser spotted woodpecker. But it was far away, on the other side of the river.
I moved on at that moment, and began encountering people along the river.
Stopping every once in a while to take photos of the Mandarin ducks. I've seen them before, but not when they were doing this:
As I proceeded down the river, I heard it again. An unmistakeable drumming of a lesser spotted woodpecker. I could even see where it was coming from, but when I approached, there was no sign of it, the bird had gone quiet. It was somewhere here, though.
A woodpecker landed in the tree then- it was a great spotted woodpecker. I took a few photos of it just as it was drumming:
The sound was completely different to the other one I heard.
After it flew off, I went back down along the river, turned back, and that is when I heard it for real.
A lesser spotted woodpecker was drumming. Very, very close to where I was standing.
But I was never able to find it.
Maybe it flew off spontaneously, or just stopped drumming. Maybe it was even in another tree, the dense thicket across the river.
But I did not see it. Did not hear it again.
So I went back down along the river. An obliging long-tailed tit attended me.
Someone was walking in front of me- an old man and a dog.
I tensed when I saw it. I really don't like dogs, ever since one caused me to crash and break a rib in 2008 on my bike.
So I went more slowly.
Almost at Brandon along the river, the old man stopped, and I stopped with him. The dog began staring at me, and I stopped and began searching up my emails to distract myself. Just one of the things my autistic brain does when it gets scared.
When the old man finally moved, he approached me, and angrily berated me for blocking his path. I was not blocking anything- there was enough space to walk right past me. And as he moved, he knocked over my bag which was standing at my feet.
A lanyard displaying my disability was clearly visible. But he did it anyway.
